The Hotak dynasty was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful rebellion against the declining Persian Safavid empire in the region of Loy Kandahar in what is now southern Afghanistan.
Image: SHAH MAHMUD HOTAK
Image: Shah Husain Hotak
The Ghiljī also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (غرزی), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt. The modern nomadic Kochi people are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes. The Ghilji make up around 20–25% of Afghanistan's total population.
Ghilji chieftains in Kabul (c. 1880)
Shah Hussain Hotak (1725–1738), the last ruler of the Hotak dynasty
Mohammad Najibullah, of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992
Ashraf Ghani, of the Ghilji tribe, was President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021